Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Saturday, July 6, 1912, to Monday, July 8, 1912.[1] Forty-seven runners from 16 nations competed.[2] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.[3] The event was won by Ted Meredith of the United States, the nation's third consecutive victory in the 800 metres. Mel Sheppard became the first man to win two medals in the event, coming in second to miss out on defending his 1908 gold. Ira Davenport completed the United States sweep, the second time the Americans had swept the 800 metres podium (after 1904).

Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the V Olympiad
The finish, with Ted Meredith setting a new world record.
VenueStockholm Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 6 (heats)
July 7 (semifinals)
July 8 (final)
Competitors47 from 16 nations
Winning time1:51.9 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ted Meredith  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Mel Sheppard  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ira Davenport  United States
← 1908
1920 →

Background

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This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. All three medalists from 1908, Olympic champion Mel Sheppard, the silver medalist Emilio Lunghi, and the bronze medalist Hanns Braun, returned. Sheppard was among the favorites with a chance to repeat; other prominent challengers were his teammates John Paul Jones and Ted Meredith as well as Lunghi (who had matched Sheppard's world record) and Braun (the 1911 and 1912 AAA champion).[2]

Chile, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey appeared in the event for the first time. Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, and the United States each made their fourth appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

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The competition expanded to three rounds for the first time. There were nine first-round heats of between 4 and 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 9 athletes each; the top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the eight-man final.[2][4]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World record   Mel Sheppard (USA) 1:52.8 (u)(*) London, United Kingdom 21 July 1908
Olympic record   Mel Sheppard (USA) 1:52.8(*) St. Louis, United States 21 July 1908

(*) This track was 536.45 metres=13 mile in circumference.

The world record of 1:52.8, which had seemed fairly safe through the first two rounds of competition, was broken by all three medalists and tied by the fourth-place runner in the final. Mel Sheppard, the previous record-holder, and Ira Davenport beat the old record by .8 seconds at 1:52.0, taking silver and bronze behind Ted Meredith and his new record of 1:51.9. This record became the first official world record for the 800 metres.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Saturday, 6 July 1912 14:45 Round 1
Sunday, 7 July 1912 Semifinals
Monday, 8 July 1912 17:00 Final

Results

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Heats

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All heats were held on Saturday, July 6, 1912.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 David Caldwell   United States 1:58.6 Q
2 Emilio Lunghi   Italy Unknown Q
3 Walter McClure   United States Unknown
4 Eric Lindholm   Sweden 2:01.5
5 Joseph Caullé   France Unknown

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Percy Mann   Great Britain 1:56.0 Q
2 Herbert Putnam   United States Unknown Q
3 Jacob Pedersen   Norway Unknown
Leopoldo Palma   Chile DNF

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Paul Jones   United States 2:01.8 Q
2 Armando Cortesão   Portugal Unknown Q
3 Oscar Larsen   Norway Unknown
4 Guido Calvi   Italy Unknown

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Clarence Edmundson   United States 1:56.5 Q
2 John Tait   Canada Unknown Q
3 Charles Poulenard   France Unknown
4 Willie Jahn   Germany 2:02.0
Robert Burton   Great Britain DNF

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ira Davenport   United States 1:59.0 Q
2 Frederick Hulford   Great Britain Unknown Q
3 Ödön Bodor   Hungary Unknown
4 Jacques Person   Germany Unknown
5 Dmitry Nazarov   Russia Unknown
Zdeněk Městecký   Bohemia DNF
Philip Baker   Great Britain DNF

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harlan Holden   United States 1:58.1 Q
2 Evert Björn   Sweden Unknown Q
3 Richard Yorke   Great Britain Unknown
4 Karl Haglund   Sweden 2:01.2
5-7 Ferenc Forgács   Hungary Unknown
Aleksandr Yelizarov   Russia Unknown
Federico Mueller   Chile Unknown
Vahram Papazian   Turkey DNF

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 James Soutter   Great Britain 2:00.4 Q
2 Mel Sheppard   United States Unknown Q
3 Erich Lehmann   Germany Unknown
János Antal   Hungary DNF
Johannes Leopold Villemson   Russia DNS

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mel Brock   Canada 1:57.0 Q
2 Ted Meredith   United States Unknown Q
3 John Victor   South Africa Unknown
Alan Patterson   Great Britain DNF

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ernest Henley   Great Britain 1:57.6 Q
2 Hanns Braun   Germany Unknown Q
3 Erik Frisell   Sweden 1:59.2
4 Thomas Halpin   United States 1:59.2
Lauri Pihkala   Finland DNF
Károly Radóczy   Hungary DNF

Semifinals

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Both semi-finals were held on Sunday, July 7, 1912. Jones withdrew to focus on the 1500 metres.[2]

 
The start of the final.
 
The final under way.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ted Meredith   United States 1:54.4 Q
2 Hanns Braun   Germany 1:54.6 Q
3 Mel Sheppard   United States 1:54.8 Q
4 Herbert Putnam   United States 1:55.0 Q
5 John Tait   Canada Unknown
6 Percy Mann   Great Britain Unknown
Frederick Hulford   Great Britain DNF
James Soutter   Great Britain DNF
John Paul Jones   United States DNS

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mel Brock   Canada 1:55.7 Q
2 Clarence Edmundson   United States 1:55.8 Q
3 David Caldwell   United States 1:55.9 Q
4 Ira Davenport   United States 1:55.9 Q
5 Emilio Lunghi   Italy Unknown
6-9 Evert Björn   Sweden Unknown
Ernest Henley   Great Britain Unknown
Harlan Holden   United States Unknown
Armando Cortesão   Portugal Unknown

Final

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The final took place on Monday, July 8, 1912.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Ted Meredith   United States 1:51.9 WR
  Mel Sheppard   United States 1:52.0
  Ira Davenport   United States 1:52.0
4 David Caldwell   United States 1:52.8
5 Mel Brock   Canada 1:53.0
6 Hanns Braun   Germany 1:53.0
7 Clarence Edmundson   United States Unknown
8 Herbert Putnam   United States Unknown

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official report, p. 61.
  4. ^ Official Report, pp. 360–63.
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  • Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 27 August 2006.